NOVA Students Learn How to Survive in the Wilderness

Building a team spirit through surviving.

The Survival Trip, as part of the Week without Walls program, gave all participants an unforgettable and unique experience to explore the beauties of mount Plackovica through hiking, rock climbing, camping, building a mountain shelter, starting a fire, setting up a tent, navigation and orientation with compass and maps, basic first aid knowledge and many other fun outdoor activities.

Through these activities students experienced that there is no better way to boost their friendships and team spirit through preparation of food together, sleeping together as a group, taking care of one another, facing individual and group challenges, cheering and supporting each other and sharing wonderful moments together.

Many of the students didn’t think they could have ever done all of these things, but with the help of their friends, working as a team, they successfully managed to overcome all of the faced difficulties and achieve all set goals. Even though at times they were tired or felt like giving up they bravely kept on, in the end victorious and proud of their success.

Through all these experiences they learned how to maintain their upright “survival” mindset, how to cope better in situations when they found themselves out of their comfort zone and how not to give up during the hard moments. This trip gave students a chance to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do anywhere else and a chance to test their personal limits, but most importantly to have fun while doing so. The favorite part? The last night when they had s’mores and sang songs around the fire, showing how close they had become as a group.